It's Sound of Music Time Again

As we drove down to the waterfront for the Sound of Music Festival, Adam and I chanted a mantra to the children:

"We will see rides.  We will not go on rides.

We will see sometimes food.  We will not buy sometimes food.

We will see toys.  We will not buy toys.

We will see treats.  We will not spend money on treats.

We are there to listen to music."

Our oldest offspring got a bit teary-eyed listening to our chant, but surprisingly we managed to stick to our guns without much fuss (especially for children up well past their bed time). 

We didn't plan what bands to see.  I rarely recognize musicians by name, and only occasionally by music.  So we traveled from stage to stage, catching the middle of one show, the end of another, the beginning of another.  Joined by our friends Columbia, Garrett and Zoe, we enjoyed the banjo stylings of  Old Man Ludecke, the rocking punk TheGoodFridays, and the popular-because-they're-on-the-radio Big Sugar.  

It didn't matter what the music was.  I had a great time dancing with William and Jadzia.  I held their hands and spun around, I picked them up and hugged and swayed, they moved to the music in crazy kid ways.  At one point, we were on the big screen.  By the time Big Sugar started playing it was well past the kids' bedtime and the crowd left little room to dance and spin.  So we went home.  

We'll likely go back tomorrow after soccer.  Maybe we'll see you there.

Rain on my Parade

This weekend was the Sound of Music Festival, when almost all of Burlington gathers near the waterfront to watch a parade and various music acts in less-than-ideal weather.

It rained through Saturday's parade, thinning out the crowds to give us a front row seat. We enjoyed the marching bands well enough, but didn't bring enough warm clothes, so we decided not to stay for the kid's bands we had planned to see. We bought fudge to take home and decided that the Skor flavour was the best.

Today was better weather, so we headed down again and saw Tom Cochrane perform. He kept making gratuitous Canadian references and talking about how great it was to be back in the Golden Horseshoe. I think he was being an applause slut, but as long as he played "Life is a Highway" everyone was happy. William didn't want to stay for even one song, and finally dragged my parents away to take him to the park, where he got extra soaked.



Not that I blamed him. It was sweltering hot. That's Canada for you; cold and rainy one day, hot and sunny the next. Makes you value the good weather. Like Tom Cochrane said, "Nobody appreciates summer like Canadians."

Sound of Music Day 1: Philosopher Kings

Woohoo, thought I, a band I've heard of is playing at the Sound of Music Festival. So I left William with my favourite babysitters (my Mom, Dad, and nephew) and headed out with my good friend Amy to enjoy the show (we met Dayna there). I do love a free concert, especially when I get close enough to take some decent photos. Yeah, and the music was okay too.

Some of my favourite points about the festival in general:

Every year musicians who are used to singing to adoring fans try to get the audience to sing their lyrics back to them, only to find that noone there knows the words. Tonight was no exception, but the Kings were unphased.

You always see people you haven't seen in a hundred years. It's like facebook live. In addition to Amy and Dayna, I saw a girl from my high school german class, one of my sister's old friends, and an old pal from high school.

Mom's cooking for us again

Today we are going to dinner at my parents house. So far we have eaten at my parents' house every day this week but one. I love my parents, and my Mom's cooking, and a break from cooking for myself, but soon I think I'll have to start contributing to the grocery bill. Anyway, just to prove we are not leeching, here are all the legitimate reasons why we chose to frequent Omi McNicoll's:

Monday: My nephew and my dad's birthday, so we had to come. Hunter picked Pizza as his meal of choice, and even though that is not technically my Mom's cooking, the family still footed the bill. Plus, Mom made a delicious strawberry cake.

Tuesday: I went to the zoo with my parents and Hunter. Now you can't really go out with my mom without her inviting you home for dinner and I would be crazy to say no to dinner made by Mom! We had manocotti.

Wednesday: I went to the farmer's market and bought corn. We had corn and porkchops for dinner. Not at the parents (Silly me).

Thursday: Adam had a Sound of Music meeting and, rather than sit around alone with William all night, I invited myself over to my parents house. Okay, this one could be considered leeching. We had ribs. Yum!

Friday: My uncle and aunt and cousins planned to come over today, but Mom randomly called me yesterday afternoon and said we were meeting them at Spencer Smith Park. We hung out at the park for a while. Baby William and Morty the Jackapoo collected "Oh how cute"s and the rest of us had ice cream. Of course Mom invited everyone back to dinner. We had spinach, baked macaroni and cheese, vegetarian chilli, and barbecued sausage.

Saturday: Today's the day my aunt and uncle actually planned to come, so my Mom's cooking a "Feast". Of course, every meal my mom makes is a feast. I'm sure it'll be delicious.

Thanks Mom!

Today's playlist quiz:
1. Give me a kiss to build a dream on,
2. Oh the power to be strong and the wisdom to be wise...
3. Isn't awfully nice to have a penis?
4. Another day is gone and I'm still all alone.
5. It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog.